Thousands of troops have been deployed to South Africa's flood-ravaged KwaZulu-Natal province where residents are still searching for the missing more than a week after torrential rains began.

South Africa is grappling with one of the biggest natural disasters in the country's history. Floods killed more than 400 people and destroyed thousands of homes.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has held a phone call with South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa about the war in Ukraine, but Pretoria has still stopped short of condemning the Russian invasion. Also, Nairobi says it will host talks between the Congolese government and rebels that have been terrorising parts of eastern DR Congo. The announcement comes after leaders from across East Africa met in Kenya to discuss the crisis. Plus, our correspondents report on how park rangers in Burkina Faso are facing the twin threat of poachers and jihadists.

Helicopters and sniffer dogs joined search and rescue teams on the ground, looking for bodies after heavy rains caused flooding , close to Durban in South Africa on Tuesday

Djeneba Belem's fried bean cake stall in Abidjan is a world away from the war raging in Ukraine. But her business is now at the mercy of an unexpected consequence: runaway palm oil prices. The conflict has helped propel prices for palm oil - ubiquitous in African dishes from Nigerian jollof rice to Ivorian sticky alloco plantains - to record highs that experts say will deepen a food-cost crisis and punish the poorest.

More troops are sent to the turbulent region of Darfur in Sudan, after days of clashes between Arab and Masalit communities that cost more than 175 lives. Also, as South Africa pledges more money to flood-stricken communities, President Cyril Ramaphosa says there will be real-time audits on the funds allocated, in order to avoid corruption. And a local NGO in Madagascar pushes for the use of pigeon peas as a drought-resistant crop.

Just under $1.4 billion in aid is pledged as regional drought threatens millions with starvation. The UN is worried that another poor season of rain could be catastrophic.

Thousands of miles from Ukraine's battlefields, millions of Africans are feeling the impact as the chaos on the global commodities markets hits goods like palm oil.

Four Argentine friends will cycle 10,500 kilometres from South Africa to Qatar to support their country at the World Cup in November, an initiative that will also lead to 10,500 new trees being planted in their homeland.

While the official threshold for a COVID wave has not yet been reached, South Africa is facing a surge of infections driven by omicron sub-variants.

The latest installment in a scathing report into the presidency of former South African leader Jacob Zuma says that he played a critical role in the plunder of state entities. About 880 million euros worth of contracts for the Eskom power utility are thought to have been shadily awarded.

In places such as Cameroon, Guinea Bissau, Rwanda or post-coup Mali, the media's vigilance extends well beyond issues that matter to the public. Journalists are forced to watch their own backs — and data, too.